


Pastries On the Table

by mmmdraco



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 04:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1052570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After school, Mitsuru picks up a treat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pastries On the Table

**Author's Note:**

  * For [softintelligence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softintelligence/gifts).



> I decided to use Makoto Yuki as the protagonist name since I've just done a playthrough of P3 where that was the name I used since that's what they're using as canon now.

There were pastries on the table in a box and Akihiko made to reach for one, but stopped himself and looked up at Mitsuru with a wry grin. "They're not gonna be as good as anything he makes."

Flipping her hair back behind her shoulder, Mitsuru sat down across the table from Akihiko. "Which is just as well as they aren't for you. Well, at least not exclusively. I... It has been pointed out to me by another of the dorm residents that I could, perhaps, learn to consume some foods like a 'normal' person."

"Ah, him." Akihiko let his gloved fingers trace along the edge of the thin cardboard box. "He's been good for you. Better than I ever could be."

With a haughty laugh, Mitsuru crossed her arms over her chest. "You've been better to me than you think, then. I've come to rely on you, you realize. And it is through seeing your strength that I learned what it truly meant to be strong." She cocked her head toward the door. "It's merely that his power is something unlike that which any of us have ever managed to possess. There isn't much I must aspire to, I admit, so it is an interesting feeling to be left wanting."

The door opened and Makoto walked through, his hands shoved as deep into his pockets as always. "Where the hell have you been?" Akihiko asked the words with just enough of a smile to show that the words were a joke and Makoto returned a smile of his own, hidden behind blue-black hair, to show that he acknowledged the joke (even if it was terrible). "Come on and join us. We're gonna eat something."

Makoto took a seat at the end of the table, seated between his two senpai, and looked at the box with the carefully printed Sweet Shop logo. "I didn't think you'd be into this kind of thing."

Mitsuru cleared her throat. "Truthfully, I purchased them so that I may work on eating food with my hands. I'm still awkward with such things as I've yet to grow accustomed to it."

"What the hell?!" There were suddenly more pastries on the table, but these still had steam rising from them. Makoto looked up to see a frown and a black beanie. "You guys goin' to the competition?"

Akihiko leaned back in his chair and smiled. "You didn't tell us you were baking. How the hell was she supposed to have known?"

"Additionally, it's hardly competition when you don't charge for your wares, Aragaki-san." Mitsuru let her hands fall primly to her lap. "If you were to choose to compete, however, I do believe that you could command quite a price for what you make."

Shinjiro grumbled, but shoved the box of pastries to the side and replaced them with his own. "Leave that shit for the others. You guys should eat these while they're still warm." He relaxed slightly, then suddenly took the seat next to Akihiko. "I've already had one, so you guys should go ahead."

Makoto was the first to reach for one. He had heard rumors of Shinjiro's prowess in the kitchen, but it had never been demonstrated so clearly to him as it was now. He took the first bite as Akihiko began to grab one, his eyes widening in surprise as the flavor almost seemed to explode in his mouth. He reached up to wipe away a bit of the flaky pastry that clung to his lip, nodding. "This is amazing."

Akihiko took a gigantic bite, groaning softly as he chewed. It was only when he finished swallowing that he looked at Shinjiro with one raised eyebrow. "You should really look into making some kind of meat pie. Sweets are nice and all, but they hardly have any protein."

"Is it cost-effective to make your own filling for this? I wonder..." Mitsuru trailed off as she delicately lifted the pastry and took a small bite, her fingers barely touching the crust. "Oh, but this is amazing, as usual." She glanced at Shinjiro. "Is there tea to serve with this?"

Shinjiro stood up, his shoulders rolled forward, and stomped away. Makoto's eyes followed him as he continued to eat the pastry, truly surprised by how extraordinary it was, though the emotion showed on his face only as much as it did about anything else. His visable eyebrow did raise when Shinjiro returned a few minutes later with Mitsuru's favorite tea tray topped with a full tea service for four. Shinjiro glowered at him, but served Makoto first. "Here. Tea."

"And this is why I'd miss you if you ever left again," Akihiko said with a grin, reaching out to grab Shinjiro's elbow, tugging him back down into his chair. "Well, there's a lot of other reasons, too, but that Shinji service with a smile has no replacement."

Mitsuru had been sipping her tea slowly, but sputtered at Akihiko's statement, the hot liquid falling across her hand and causing her to drop her tea cup, the delicate china shattering as it hit the dorm floor. "Ahh!" She stood, waving her hand as she sighed. "That is something I haven't done in years."

The three men at the table were already surrounding her and moving her toward the sink where Makoto turned on the cool water, testing it first, and Shinjiro grabbed her hand to pull it beneath the water while Akihiko stood at her elbow, one hand coming up to rub at the small of her back. "Are you okay?" Akihiko was the one to ask it, but Shinjiro and Makoto's eyes also made their way to Mitsuru's face, looking for truth in what statement she might make.

Taking in the men who surrounded her, feeling the care that they gave her even moreso that the throb of her burning hand, Mitsuru smiled. "I'm certain I'll heal soon enough, especially with the three of you around to care for me."

Shinjiro let her hand drop, his own hands moving to his pockets. "It's not anything I wouldn't do for any of you guys."

Makoto looked up, mirroring Shinjiro's pose. "Even for me?"

Reaching over to lay one hand on Makoto's shoulder, Akihiko grinned. "You're alright, kid."

Pulling her hand from under the water, Mitsuru reached for a small towel to dry it off. "Even though I know, logically, that the tea is nowhere near cool, I do suggest we sit back down before the pastries cool too terribly. For Aragaki-san's sake, at least."

Leading the way, Makoto began to clean up the broken tea cup. Shinjiro growled at him as he began to pick up the pieces, though. "Just use the broom. It's not gonna do us any good if you cut yourself."

Makoto imagined how that scenario might play out, but the resulting thoughts led into an image wherein his finger was in Akihiko's mouth while Mitsuru grabbed the first aid kit and Shinjiro offered to stitch up the wound. At the very least, it made him feel warm to know that these three people cared for him (and each other) as much as he cared for all of them. Pastries and tea would dominate for the rest of the afternoon, at least. For once, Tartarus could wait.


End file.
